Corpus Callosum
by legallyinsane93
Summary: Steve Rogers is attempting to cope with the stresses of fighting another war and assimilating with this modern world he's awoken to. When he unintentionally meets a consultant SHIELD has brought in to work on their servers, however, he is surprised to find himself with an unlikely ally. But for Captain America, the past isn't such an easy thing to bury. Full Summary Inside
1. Prologue: The Consultant

**Disclaimer: ONE AND ONLY! I do not own Marvel, The Avengers, Captain America, or any other familiar things included in this story. I'm only writing this for entertainment, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.**

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**Title:** Corpus Callosum

**Summary:** Post-_The Avengers_- With SHIELD's servers down in the wake of the attack by Loki & his Chitauri army, Director Fury contracts in a consultant to repair the downed systems. Dr. Cassandra Angleman is brilliant, but sometimes struggles to relate to the world around her, preferring to hide among her lab equipment and computers. Captain Steven Rogers is attempting to cope with the combined stresses of joining the modern world and going to battle against an alien race, but finds himself drowning in all he's missed during his seventy year slumber. When the analyst and Avenger's worlds collide, however, they're each surprised to find a welcome ally in the other. As their friendship grows, Steve finds himself deciding that, just maybe, there is some hope for him in this crazy modern world. No happiness can last, however, and Steve and Cassie are quick to discover that the past is not so easily buried.

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**A/N:** Hello! While not my first foray into fanfiction, this is my first The Avengers fanfic. I debated putting this up until some of my other stories are finished, but the plot bunnies refuse to be satisfied, and so I thought I would at least post the prologue and see if the story garners any interest. I know there are a hundred million stories out there centered on Captain America, but I hope you'll give this a shot! I'm really enjoying writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it! Please drop me a review to let me know if you think it may be worth continuing! Thank you so much for reading, & I look forward to hearing from you! :)

Lauren

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_Corpus Callosum:_

_The arched bridge of nervous tissue that connects the two cerebral hemispheres, allowing communication between the right and left sides of the brain._

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**Prologue**

Day. Night. Such words are used to denote a passing of time or completion of events. Such words are represented by the absence or presence of moon, sun, or stars. Deep in the research labs of the pharmaceutical company nestled on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 57th street in Manhattan, however, such indicators of passing time were absent. Scientists and engineers worked diligently, not caring whether it was day or night so long as they continued making progress on their individual projects and experiments. Occasional glances at watches or ringing of cell phones would remind the workers of the world that existed outside of their research, and only then would night and day once again matter.

If one such worker had known, however, how much her life would be changed in just a few moments, she most likely would have paid much more attention as to the passing of hours and minutes, if only to remember the exact moment her life forever lost what little normalcy and predictability it contained. Instead, the young woman, like the other researchers around her, remained focused on the project she was currently overseeing, oblivious to the world around her in favor of peering into a microscope, seeking after some new discovery until a beeping pulled her mental focus away from her research.

"Dr. Angleman, you have a visitor waiting in your office."

"It's Friday. I'm not taking any appointments today, MARC. You know that." The young woman swiftly answered the computer-generated voice that had sounded throughout her lab, never even looking up from the microscope to which her eyes were glued. "Have them either leave a message or talk to Stacy about coming back Tuesday."

"I'm afraid that isn't possible," the computer voice replied crisply. "It's Director Fury, ma'am. He says it's urgent and he must see you in person."

"Dammit," hissed the woman as she looked up from the microscope with a huff. "Tell him I'll be right there." She sighed again as the system replied with an affirmative, looking over at an older man in a white lab coat that matched her own, whose eyes had already connected with hers. "I trust you can handle this, Dr. Marx?"

"Of course," the man returned, stepping up to take her place at the microscope.

"Make sure all data is uploaded to MARC so I can look over it later," Dr. Angleman stated, already moving toward the door as she removed her safety goggles.

"Naturally," Dr. Marx agreed, once again becoming oblivious to the passing of time as his colleague swept from the lab, leaving him to return to his work.

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"Good morning, Director Fury," Dr. Angleman greeted with a smile as she entered her office to find a familiar middle-aged man, crisp in a black suit, looking out over Manhattan from the window behind her desk.

"Good morning, Dr. Angleman," Fury replied, turning to keep his good eye on the young woman's approach, her white lab coat standing out amid the browns and beiges of her office. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything too important?"

"Oh, not at all," she replied, slight sarcasm in her tone as she shook off her lab coat and hung it on a coat rack beside a buffet and small refrigerator. "Just a possible breakthrough in skin cell regeneration. No big deal. Drink?"

"I see." Denying the offered drink, Fury moved to stand in front of the doctor's desk as she shrugged, grabbing herself a bottle of water from the small fridge before moving to sit behind the mahogany masterpiece that was her business workstation, leaning back slightly in her chair as she crossed her legs and unscrewed the cap to take a sip of her drink. "I'll make this short so you can return to your work." He continued when the doctor nodded. "A year ago, I and my division approached you about serving as a consultant, as well as redesigning our computer systems, and you agreed."

"Yes," cut in Dr. Angleman, setting her water on her desk and placing her hands in her lap, "I'm still not sure why you approached me, seeing as how my work is in biotechnology. Not computers."

Then what do you call this…MARC, was it?" The director's tone remained casual as he waved a hand through the air to indicate the software that had directed him and the doctor at her desk to their current location and meeting.

"A hobby," Dr. Angleman returned simply, quirking an eyebrow at the man standing across from her. "Some people knit, I…tinker."

"Your aptitude levels are off the charts, as you know, and have been since you were a child," Fury returned, keeping his voice level and showing no amusement in the doctor's words. "You hold a degree in engineering with a minor in computer science, and you have a large capacity for keeping secrets, which, in my line of work, is an extremely valuable trait. You were a logical decision." The director ignored the huff of amusement Dr. Angleman issued as he continued. "Your design has proven to suit our needs extremely well."

"Then why are you here? When I agreed, you said I would only be contacted when needed. It's only been a year…surely you haven't broken my systems already?"

"Everything was working fine," Fury insisted. "Until the attack two days ago."

"Ahh, yes. The attack that has my employees parking at a garage down the street at my expense because my parking was leveled by a giant alien eel," the doctor mused, fixing a dry smile on the director. "Very inconvenient considering alien attacks were not included in my insurance policy."

"Yes, well, the man behind that attack also managed to knock out all of SHEILD's computer systems—back up servers included—with some kind of virus that managed to shut down one of the engines on our helicarrier and send it plummeting toward the earth."

Catching Director Fury's matter-of-fact tone, the doctor chose to ignore the temptation to ask what exactly a helicarrier was. Between demi-gods, aliens, and extremely powerful mutants, she'd quickly learned that with SHIELD it was usually in her best interests to not sate her curiosity, and Fury's tone implied this was quite a serious matter. "You need your systems rebuilt," she surmised, piecing together what the director had told her. "And you want me to try and figure out what was used to knock out your servers so that it won't happen again." The doctor leaned forward and pulled a piece of paper and pen toward her, scribbling quickly even as Fury continued.

"Basically. Our technicians have already returned the servers to operational status. What we need from you is a way to lock them down and prevent any unauthorized access in case of another emergency. I'd also like you to look at the encryption and firewalls and see if you can strengthen them. Tony Stark managed to bypass the firewalls like they weren't even there and decrypted some highly secure files. I want to know how he managed to do it so easily."

"Hmm, JARVIS really does live up to his name," Dr. Angleman said wistfully as she held up the paper she'd been writing on. "Here's a list of the supplies I'll need." Fury pocketed the piece of paper as she continued. "I'll need the same level of access as last time, of course. Perhaps even a few levels deeper for the encryption. And I'll need to look at even the tiniest bit of evidence you have of that virus. Preferably original code, but even just a corrupted file would be helpful."

"I'll see to it your clearance card and security verification are delivered this afternoon," Fury agreed. "And your required supplies will be gathered in time for you to start work Monday morning. In exchange for your compensation, I trust you understand this project takes precedence over anything else that may be holding your attention."

"Of course," the doctor returned, pinching the bridge of a finely-upturned nose between her thumb and forefinger. "It'll put me a week behind at the least, but when Uncle Sam calls I'm expected to answer, right?"

"Is there anything else you'll need?" Fury chose to ignore Dr. Angleman's sardonic tone as he pressed forward with their meeting. Hers wasn't the only office he needed to visit that day.

"There is one more thing," Dr. Angleman began after a moment of thought, leaning forward in her chair to rest her chin in one hand as she rested a blue silk-encased elbow on the dark wood of her desk. "I'll need to meet with Mr. Stark."

"Meet with Stark?" echoed Fury as the doctor stood and circled her desk to join him at its front.

"Yes," she said as though it were obvious, leading the SHIELD director toward her office door as their conference drew to a close. "I need to know exactly how JARVIS bypassed those levels of security."

"Stark likes to be able to come and go as he pleases, electronically and otherwise. What makes you think he'll tell you?"

"I know Stark. In some ways, I _am_ Stark," Dr. Angleman stated, oblivious to how much the events she was setting into motion would affect the rest of her life as she explained her reasoning in response to Fury's unspoken request for clarification. "People like Stark become arrogant because they don't have many people who can truly test them intellectually. Stark will tell me exactly what he did to get into your systems, simply so he can try to get into them again when I finish my improvements. Brilliant people love a challenge."

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**A/N: **And there is the beginning to this story! I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know in a review! :D

Lauren


	2. Chapter One: Meeting of the Minds

**A/N:** Thank you so much to** LanerMahaner, MikaHimura, skybird716, K. A. Greenwick, & Bor Vampire** for your favorites, follows, and reviews! I'm glad you found the beginnings of this project interesting! If anyone is interested, I've also made a short trailer for this story on YouTube, the link for which can be found at the bottom of my profile. I'd love if you all would check it out! :)

This story will be updated every other Sunday, so this chapter is actually a few days late, for which I apologize. I find Tony Stark particularly difficult to write for reasons unknown. I hope he's believable, and feel free to send any suggestions for ways to improve anything that catches your eye as wrong! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! :)

Lauren

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_Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change._

-Stephen Hawking

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**Chapter One**

Anthony E. Stark had specifically designed the top floors of Stark Tower to be the investigative playground of any researcher or engineer he deemed fit to ascend that high and enter the educational paradise. It baffled him, therefore, that the first scientist he'd deemed worthy of the honor wasn't reveling in the top-of-the-line equipment and endless opportunities offered by the state-of-the-art tower. In fact, Dr. Bruce Banner was not in the labs at all, instead organizing himself amid the chaos of construction filling Tony Stark's office in the wake of the attack on Midtown just a few days before, a dark mop of unruly hair just visible over the black leather cushions as the scientist flipped through a magazine.

"Watcha reading, there, Doc?" Tony asked from behind the virtual diagram of the tower rising from the interactive blueprints rolled out across his desk top, where he was tweaking the tower's design to correspond with the repairs needing made to the innovative structure. He'd yet to decide if he was truly interested in what the doctor was reading, but collapsed the 3-D model of the tower into the desk anyway.

"_Forbes_ did an article over most promising companies," Dr. Banner informed from his seat, glancing back at the eccentric engineer who had meandered around the sheets blocking off the damage the other guy had done to the marble floors in his confrontation with Loki and was stepping behind the office's bar to pour himself a glass of scotch. "It isn't even noon yet; isn't it a little early for liquor?"

"It's never too early, my friend," Stark replied, taking a sip from his glass before crossing the room to join Dr. Banner. "Is Stark Solutions number one?"

"Number two," Bruce informed the genius standing to his right, seeming to take a little too much satisfaction from knocking his friend down a notch.

"Well, that explains why I haven't read it," Tony quipped as he sat beside the scientist, glancing over Bruce's shoulder at the article and trying to feign disinterest. "What made number one?"

"AngleTek."

"The pharmaceutical company a few blocks over?" Tony inquired with a raised eyebrow. "What makes them so special?

Bruce shrugged, holding his magazine higher as he read out loud. "Since its founding in 2005, AngleTek, Incorporated has delivered tremendous results in improving chemotherapy and radiation treatments, as well as manufacturing high-quality medicines and vaccines. Since its CEO and founder, Dr. Cassandra Angleman, took the company public in 2009, Angletek has continued to explode into the medical research market, and is only predicted to continue in its ascent to the top of the pharmaceutical market with its rumored buyout of BioStart, a small company specializing in biomechanics."

"Hmph. One leveraged buyout and you're the next Exxon-Mobil," Tony complained as he sipped at his scotch. "No wonder I don't read those articles."

Bruce shook his head at Tony's complaining and turned back to the article, his eyebrows rising and the corners of his mouth turning down in a sign he was impressed as he continued. "It says the company's net worth already exceeds seven billion dollars." He then tilted his head back to rest against the top of the plush couch as the lines of his face all crinkled together in concentration. "Cassandra Angleman…Why does that sound so familiar?"

"There was a Christopher Angleman, I think?" Tony offered after a moment. "Haven't heard anything from him in years, but his work in neural disease was unparalleled."

"No, that's not it," Banner returned, shaking his head as he dug through his brain, the information he desired drifting just out of reach. "Dr. Angleman left the labs years ago due to Alzheimer's…his work certainly was phenomenal."

"Sir, Director Fury is here for your meeting," cut in Jarvis's polished voice, sending Bruce's thoughts scattering wildly with the interruption. "Shall I send him up?"

"Damn. I forgot he was coming today," Tony complained, looking down at his empty glass. "Probably a good thing I had that drink." Tony returned his attention to Jarvis as the AI waited for an answer. "Sure. Send him up."

Stark and Banner sat in silence as they waited for the SHIELD director's arrival, one dreading the meeting he'd begrudgingly scheduled the day before at Fury's insistence, the other still reaching for a wisp of buried memory. When the Stark Tower elevator dinged, both men involuntary flinched and turned to the metal door sliding open to reveal the imposing figure of Director Nick Fury, imposing as ever in all-black business attire, and a blonde woman, still professional in a black pencil skirt and forest green blouse, but failing to project the same commanding aura as her escort.

"Good morning, gentlemen." Fury's voice echoed through the office as he stepped from the elevator, casting his eyes about to take in the damage and causing both men to stand from their seats on the couch as he approached.

"Good morning, Director," Banner greeted as he tucked his magazine under his elbow and looked to Tony, who'd remained silent. "I'll just head to the lab so you can have your meeting in private."

"That won't be necessary, Doctor," Fury replied. "This isn't one of those kinds of meetings."

"Did you get Agent Coulson replaced already?" Tony inquired, averting his attention from the director to truly notice the tiny blonde woman standing beside the director, looking around his crumbling office with something akin to bewildered fascination on her face. Her attention snapped to Stark as she realized he was referring to her. "She's cute, but she doesn't quite have that mysterious allure going on. Someone bust you about gender equality?"

"Agent Coulson is irreplaceable," Fury returned firmly as the woman to his left buried a soft laugh behind her hand. "This is actually the reason for our meeting. I'd like to introduce Dr. Cassandra Angleman."

"Pleasure to meet you," the woman said, striding forward quickly and smiling as she extended her hand for Tony to shake.

"I'm sure it is." Tony seemed unimpressed with the introduction, but Dr. Banner jerked his attention from where he'd been focusing on the window just over Director Fury's shoulder to study the woman before him, from blonde hair pulled into an elegant chignon at the base of her neck, over to the faded grey corduroy messenger bag slung across her body to rest on her right hip, and down to simple black pumps, everything sliding together with echoing clarity.

"Cassandra Angleman…Cassie?!" The woman looked over at Bruce and stared at him for a moment, a 'v' of confusion creasing a forehead not yet marked by worry lines before she, too, seemed struck by realization.

"Dr. Banner?" When the scientist nodded his confirmation, Cassandra suddenly smiled warmly, abandoning Tony to step over and shake Banner's hand enthusiastically. "It's good to see you!"

"My God, you've grown!" Bruce noted with a smile of his own.

"Well, I would hope so!" Dr. Angleman cried, still smiling good-naturedly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Considering last time we spoke I was still in pigtails. What's it been, sixteen years?"

"I was unaware you were previously acquainted with Dr. Banner," Fury interrupted, focusing his attention on the blonde woman at the scientist's side as she paused, her mouth frozen in an 'o' from where she'd been about to continue her exchange with Banner.

"Well, I wasn't, my father was," Cassandra revealed with a nostalgic smile as she quickly recovered and turned her attention to the SHIELD director. "Dr. Banner and my father worked together for a while when I was a kid."

"We were studying radiation's effects on the brain," Bruce pointed out. "At least until our funding got cut. Cassie and her mother used to bring us dinner when we'd get too caught up to remember to eat." He turned his attention to the blonde standing beside him. "Is your mother's lasagna still as good as I remember?"

"Even better," Cassie returned with a small, happy sigh. "She's like a fine wine. Just gets better with age. You should stop by one night while you're in town. I'm sure she'd be happy to see you."

"So this is Christopher Angleman's daughter?" Stark asked, searching for clarification as he watched the two doctors' exchange. Bruce nodded. "Huh. All grown up and trying to fill Daddy's shoes."

"And apparently succeeding and exceeding," Bruce pointed out, holding his magazine up for the woman to see. "I was just reading the article over what I assume is your company." Cassandra's confused glances between Banner and Stark ceased at his explanation and the sight of the magazine cover. "Congratulations."

"Oh, so this is why my mother was asking if I'd stopped by a magazine stand yet," Dr. Angleman quipped as she took the offered magazine and flipped it open to the aforementioned article. "I don't know how I could've forgotten. They called my office everyday for two weeks over this stupid list."

"Dr. Angleman has been commissioned as a consultant for SHIELD." Director Fury's voice rang with authority as he tried to pull the three great minds back to focus. "She designed the computer systems Loki managed to send into shambles"—he directed a pointed look at Tony—"as well as the firewalls you managed to bypass."

"Stellar job there, Cricket." Tony refused to even pretend to be repentant as he saluted Cassandra with his empty glass, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"What can I say?" Dr. Angleman shrugged, deflecting Tony's jab. "I didn't have 'alien invasion' in mind when I created the design." She cast an assessing gaze around Tony's office and the signs of damage and construction, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him pointedly. "Apparently you didn't either when you…what was the line? Privatized world peace?"

"We've pulled Dr. Angleman back in to update our systems now that we know what kind of attacks they're susceptible to," Fury pushed in order to prevent the meeting from branching off topic once again, intercepting the beginning of a retort from Tony Stark as the billionaire raised an eyebrow at the young blonde.

"And what does that have to do with me?" Tony asked, turning his attention back to Fury and holding his arms out in curiosity even as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Dr. Angleman, I'll leave you to it," Director Fury declared, sharing a look with the young scientist to his left. She nodded her agreement, and Director Fury passed a glance over the three astounding minds gathered before him before nodding. "Good day, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner."

The SHIELD Director abruptly turned on his heel and made his way to the Stark Tower elevator, taking his imposing presence with him and causing silence to fall as Tony's eyes stayed on the spy until the elevator doors had closed behind him, dark orbs then shifting to the scientist who lingered.

"So, what can I do for Christopher Angleman's rugrat?" Tony asked, finally dethroning the reigning silence.

"The decryption software you used to bust into SHIELD's files," Cassandra began readily, crossing her arms over her chest as she met the engineer's gaze. "I want it."

"Not even a 'please.' What is it with today's generation?" Tony's voice remained light as he looked over to Dr. Banner. "No respect for their elders. So rude." He returned his gaze to Cassandra as she huffed loudly while Banner simply shook his head and held his hands up in surrender, refusing to get between the two. "How old are you?"

"Does it really matter?" Dr. Angleman returned, cocking her head a bit to one side as Tony turned his back on her, beginning to move across his office and disappearing behind an array of white sheets hanging from the ceiling to separate a demi-god sized indention in the marble floor from the rest of the room.

"I'm just wondering." Tony made his way to the mini-bar, glancing over to find Cassandra following him across the room, her steps slower and uncertain. "Making sure I wouldn't be distributing alcohol to a minor before I offer you a drink." He pulled the stopper from the decanter full of his favorite scotch, glancing up at the scientist once again. "Not that there's anything wrong with underage drinking," he said as the dark liquid spilled into his glass. "It's common for women in your age group to experiment. I remember this one girl"—

"I'm twenty-five," Cassandra finally said, her tone begging Tony to halt his train of thought. "And no, I don't want a drink."

"You sure?" Tony picked up his glass and swirled the whiskey around as he eyed the brilliant mind before him. "I'm having one."

"I didn't come for a drink. I came for your software," Cassie said firmly.

"Ahh, yes," Tony said as he took a sip and relished in the slow burn of the scotch as it slid down his throat to spread warmth through his stomach. "You probably would've had better luck with that if you'd had Fury stick around." He circled the bar now that his glass was full once again, crossing the marble floor to stand directly in front of the young blonde and realizing he had to look down while she simultaneously tilted her chin back to steadily meet his gaze, light clashing with dark. "You see, Cassie…can I call you Cassie?" He continued without waiting for any kind of confirmation. "I was an only child. And I don't like to share."

"Why?" Cassie began as Tony pushed past her to return to the sitting area where Bruce had once again taken residence on one of the cushions, trying to pretend he wasn't listening to the exchange going on behind him. "Afraid I'll be able to best your program and you won't be able to get into the servers again?"

Tony paused and rolled his eyes, turning back to the young woman behind him. "You're not very intimidating, kid," he declared easily, gesturing at her ensemble. "Maybe you should try a different approach. Step down to the lobby and let your hair down, undo a couple buttons on that blouse, and come try again. Maybe then you'll get somewhere, huh?"

Embellishing his statement with a wink, Tony couldn't help the self-satisfied smirk that crept across his face as the young woman before him looked completely scandalized, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as her mouth fell into a shocked 'o.' Trying to hide his amusement to let Cassie squirm a few minutes longer, Tony turned on his heel and joined his friend on the black leather couch.

"Was that really necessary, Tony?" Bruce asked, glancing sideways at the engineer. "She's just a kid."

"Relax. I'm just sussing her out," Tony assured his friend as he sipped his whiskey. "Was her father as brilliant as everyone made him out to be?"

Banner nodded. "Chris was gifted. Cassie even more so, if I remember right. I haven't really kept up with them like I should've."

"She's gotta be to get a company like AngleTek on its feet so quickly. At twenty-five?"

"You took over Stark Industries when you were twenty-one."

"But Stark Industries was already founded," Tony noted. "I just got put in charge. How do you create a company like AngleTek from scratch when you're, what?"—the engineer did a quick calculation in his head. "Eighteen? And have it be so successful so soon?"

"With style and class," Dr. Angleman cut in with a small smirk as she stepped up to the side of the couch nearest Dr. Banner, her hands on her hips as she fixed the two men under a steely gaze.

Tony grinned at the young scientist's audacity. "Cassie!" he cried with exaggerated excitement, sending a glance over the scientist's still perfectly-arranged outfit. "Since you're still fully dressed, I'll assume you've come up with another argument to get me to share my software with you, but first, tell me…why does Fury have a glorified lab rat working on his servers in the first place?"

"Because the grease monkey he first thought about asking likes to stick his nose in places it shouldn't go," Cassandra jabbed, quirking a finely-shaped eyebrow at the genius before her.

Tony grinned as Banner gave a bark of a laugh and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "I think I like you kid," he decided. "But I'm still not giving you my software."

Cassie rounded the couch, thanking Dr. Banner as he adjusted his legs to let her pass easier as she tottered on her black stilettos. "Oh, but I think you are." Pulling her bag over her head and setting it beside her, the young scientist kept her eyes on Stark as she arranged herself on the edge of the ottoman across from the couch, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward to rest her chin in her hand as she propped one elbow on her knee, keeping her other arm folded across her stomach.

"And why is that exactly?" Tony inquired, taking a languid sip from his glass before leaning forward to close the distance between himself and the brilliant young woman perched in front of him.

"Because you're curious." Tony quirked an eyebrow at the blonde and she pushed forward, matching his raised brow with one of her own. "Let's face it: speaking modestly, you're the greatest engineer in the western hemisphere. I have no chance of besting any software you create."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, sweetheart," Tony said, but Cassie noticed the way his lips had twitched in a small grin at her words and continued on, knowing a bit of an ego boost was the best way to get a foot in the door with a man like Tony Stark.

"Maybe not," she relented with a casual shrug. "But, if you know you're the best, and I know you're the best, then what's a little bit of a gamble going to hurt?" She then leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, pure challenge in her tone and posture. "You're not gonna tell me you're scared of a glorified lab rat and her laptop, are you?"

Amused as he processed Cassie's words and the daring bite of her tongue, Tony leaned back and casually tossed an arm over the back of the couch, never moving his eyes from the doctor's face. "I'm listening."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think! :)

Lauren


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